Shrewsbury Nurseries

Business background: "We have been in business since 1947," owner John Lebeaux said. "The nursery sits on 15 acres that was carved out of my grandfather's 200-acre Buttonwood Farm."

Business description: Shrewsbury Nurseries provides gardening needs and design services for residential customers throughout the Metrowest and central Mass. area. "We specialize in plantings and materials for the do-it-yourselfers. You can buy the biggest tree that a homeowner could plant without a backhoe … We have a sales staff that has been with us for decades." Recent awards: Shrewsbury Nurseries received Worcester Magazine's and the Telegram and Gazette's 2007 People's Choice award for Best Nursery.

Latest trends: "People are spending more time close to home, enjoying their homes and gardens. Color remains a hot item this season … We have 100s of varieties of plants. Perennials remain a large retail item within the industry; you get more bang for your buck.

"There are hundreds of varieties of crabapples; we identify the 15 to 20 that will do the best in our region. We try to pick varieties that perform."

Advice: Spring is the time to start with lawn care from fertilizing, spreading lime to seeding. With the sales yard beginning to fill up, John said, spring is the best time to get the greatest availability of trees and shrubs.

John and Robin recently lost their father, Rueben, the founder of the nursery, and are ready to make their father proud with what they hope will be another successful planting season.

"Customers that my dad had in the '50s, three generations later, we are still supplying," John said. "I am proud of that."